How Small Businesses Can Benefit from Robotic Welding

Robotic welding isn’t just for the largest manufacturers anymore. Small business automation is booming in popularity. Can your small business really benefit from a technology like robotic welding? Is it really the best place for capital investment? Is there a good Return on Investment (ROI) on small business automation? Yes, and here’s why.

Small Businesses Face Unique Challenges

How did your most recent job listing work out? If you are like most employers, you had a hard time finding the right worker for the position. With each new hire, you are likely starting to appreciate that the labor shortage is indeed real. Drawing qualified workers to a small business can be extremely challenging when large corporations offer competitive packages.

Small production facilities are challenged to find ways to lower costs. Big businesses buy in bulk, get better pricing, and have more resources to invest in research and development.. Smaller companies have to come up with creative ways to reduce material and labor costs, to gain an edge on the competition. 

Robotic Welding Solves Small Business Automation Needs

First off, robotic welding boosts production. A well-tuned automation solution outperforms manual labor. It’s both faster and more efficient. The costs for workers needed to maintain the robots and the maintenance materials required are quickly saved with productivity gains. 

Automation also reduces waste and rework. Disposing of product or sending a component back to the production line after inspection wastes materials and time. Automated workcells don’t need supervisors checking on their work. They don’t need safety managers enforcing rules. The savings in material and labor costs gives your small business more cash to invest in other areas.

Robotic Welding Is Within Your SMB’s Reach

You might be worried that the upfront costs will be too much for your business. But the latest advances in robotic welding have created systems with low setup and programming costs. 

Extra floor space is at a minimum in most facilities. New robotic workcells can be designed for small spaces. You don’t need a workcell for each part. A single robot can switch from one part to another by moving from one station to the next.

You may also be interested in reading Robotic Welding: Can You Find ROI for Small Batch Production Operations?